View full sizeCaroline Dougherty of Washington D.C rehearses with other students at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Dancers at the Carlisle studio will be performing Sleeping Beauty.
JOHN WHITEHEAD / FOR PENNLIVE

Caroline Dougherty never expected to land a big role in Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet's production of "The Sleeping Beauty," which is being performed at the Whitaker Center's Sunoco Performance Theater April 20 and 21. She definitely did not expect to win the role of the Lilac Fairy during one of the show's performances.

Practically the narrator of the play, the Lilac Fairy saves the day after changing the curse the evil Fairy Carabosse - played by professional character artist Laura L. Hargrave - places on the baby Princess Aurora to make the princess fall asleep after having her finger pricked, rather than die.

"We all tried out for the fairies and I just wanted to be one fairy," Dougherty recalled. She knew about the Lilac Fairy and her prominence in the ballet (she is one of the only characters to appear in all three acts), but did not think she was prepared for it.

"He [Alan Hineline, the CEO of CPYB and choreographer for 'The Sleeping Beauty] took a chance on me and I can't believe it," the bubbly 16-year-old said.

Her self doubt is due to her being relatively new to the school, having only studied with there for two years. Still, she is devoted to her craft, having chosen to leave her family and Washington D.C. home behind to move to Carlisle by herself to study at CPYB.

It was that dedication and love of ballet that inspired Hineline and Marcia Dale Weary, the school's founding artistic direction, to give Dougherty the part.

"She's advanced so much this year - it's amazing," Weary said. "I could see how much passion she puts into it and I feel like this year, the way she works, she'd be ready for it."

That improvement in technique is something Dougherty has noted as well. "I have just seen myself grow so much from last year to this year in everything: confidence as well as mentally, physically. It's like night and day."

She gives the credit to CPYB and her teachers. "They really want you to do your best," she said.

It also helps that she has constant motivation from the younger students. "This school is known for its 'barn babies,'" she said, describing the students who have trained at CPYB since preschool. "You'll be like, that's girl is ten and she's so good. I need to be as good as her. It pushes you everyday."

That constant push is what Abigail Kay, 14, loves about ballet and is one of the reasons she chose to pursue that dancing form over her previous love - hip hop dancing.

"I feel like with other styles all I was doing was smiling and jumping around," she said. "But I feel like there's more to ballet and it interests me."

The York Twp. teen is in the "Garland Waltz" and also acts as a woman on a spinning wheel during "The Sleeping Beauty." She has only been with CPYB for a year, but has decided she wants to be a professional ballerina. She has even switched over to cyber school to allow her more time to pursue dancing.

She said she finds the "Garland Waltz" particularly challenging - and that is not by accident.

"The Sleeping Beauty" was chosen to be the CPYB performance specifically because it had the ability to challenge the myriad of dancers currently at the school.

"What we try to do is look at who is in the school and look at what particular ballets will push them forward in their development," Hineline said.

"The Sleeping Beauty" is a classical ballet rich in technique and storytelling. But it's also "the most royal of all the ballets," according to Hineline. Grace must be in abundance even when the dance steps are incredibly difficult.

"To really pull it off and pull the characterization off - well, they [some of the students] have been training for 10 years already, so it takes a long time," he said. "It's not 'So You Think You Can Dance.'"

Hineline never lets his students off easy, either. "I've never approached choreography with them as if I was choreographing for children," he explained. "I always approach it as if I'm choreographing it professionally and they keep up."

He paused, smiled and repeated. "They keep up."

DETAILS: CPYB's "The Sleeping Beauty," 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 20; 2 p.m. April 21 at the Sunoco Performance Theatre at Whitaker Center for Science and Arts, 222 Market St., Harrisburg. Cost: $14-$38. www.cpyb.org; 717-245-1191. For those interested in learning more about the production, the school will be holding InSights, informal question and answer sessions about the ballet, at 12:15 p.m. April 20 and 1:15 p.m. April 21 at the Sunoco Performance Theatre.